ISSN 1989 - 9572
Mobility, family, and gender: A transnational
approach
Mobilidade, família e género: Uma abordagem
transnacional
Marzia Grassi,
Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
Journal for Educators, Teachers and Trainers, Vol. 5 (3)
http://www.ugr.es/~jett/index.php
Fecha de recepción: 31 de julio de 2013
Fecha de revisión: 17 de noviembre de 2013
Fecha de aceptación: 24 de febrero de 2014
Grassi, M. (2014). Mobility, family, and gender: A transnational approach. Journal for
Educators, Teachers and Trainers, Vol. 5(3), pp. 93 – 104.
Journal for Educators, Teachers and Trainers JETT, Vol. 5 (3); ISSN: 1989-9572
93
Journal for Educators, Teachers and Trainers, Vol. 5 (3)
ISSN 1989 – 9572
http://www.ugr.es/~jett/index.php
Mobility, family, and gender: A transnational approach
Mobilidade, família e género: Uma abordagem transnacional
Marzia Grassi, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal, [email protected]
Resumo: A mobilidade em espaços transnacionais modifica as relações entre indivíduos e dentro da
família, tanto nos países de origem como nos países de imigração. Os impactos de género no
comportamento dos indivíduos determinam os efeitos de longo prazo que a migração traz nas suas vidas.
Neste artigo, após a apresentação dos fundamentos teóricos do grupo de investigação "vidas
transnacionais, mobilidade e género" (TLM & G)1, vou discutir as implicações epistemológicas e as
escolhas envolvidas nos métodos de recolha de dados nos estudos da mobilidade transnacional. Concluo
apontando para a necessidade de repensar a mobilidade e os estudos da família, numa perspectiva
transnacional que considere o género dos indivíduos, através da adaptação dos instrumentos
metodológicos à realidade da mobilidade humana contemporânea. O objetivo geral do grupo de
investigação TLM & G é explorar o impacto da mobilidade na vida dos indivíduos, considerando as
relações familiares e domésticas, e tendo em conta a forma como as experiências de integração são
afectadas pelas representações de género e pela sua auto-percepção. Do ponto de vista académico, este
grupo de investigação irá reforçar a abordagem sociológica e a formação científica nesta área quer nos
países europeus quer nos países africanos, com um impacto potencial sobre o transnacionalismo, a
migração e os estudos da família. Olhando para a mobilidade como um direito humano e uma
oportunidades para os indivíduos e as famílias, o objetivo é contribuir para uma abordagem teórica
renovada sobre as condições diferenciadas do acesso à migração na sociedade de origem, bem como no
espaço diferenciado de integração social na sociedade de imigração.
Abstract: Mobility in transnational spaces modifies the relationships between individuals and within
families and households in both sending and host countries. The impacts of gender on individuals‟
behaviour essentially establish the long-term effects migration brings in their lives. In this paper, after
presenting the theoretical grounding of the research group “transnational lives, mobility and gender”
(TLM&G)2, I will discuss the epistemological implications and choices involved in the methods of data
collection in transnational mobility studies. I will conclude pointing to the necessity of rethinking mobility
and family studies in a transnational gendered perspective through the adaptation of methodological
instruments to the reality of contemporary human mobility. The general aim of the TLM&G research group
is to explore the impact of mobility on individuals‟ lives, considering family and household relationships,
and taking into account how integration experiences are affected by gender representations and selfperceptions. From the academic point of view, this research group will reinforce the sociological approach
and the scientific background in this area in European and African countries, with a potential impact on
transnationalism, migration, and family studies. Looking at mobility as a human right and opportunity for
individuals and families, the aim is to contribute to a renewed theoretical approach on the differentiated
conditions pertaining to migration access in the origin society as well as a differentiated scope of social
integration in the host society.
Palavras-chave: Mobilidade; Género; Transnacionalismo; Representações; Família
Keywords: Mobility; Gender; Transnationalism; Representations; Family
1
Desde 2008 o grupo de investigação sob a minha coordenação no ICS-UL inclue uma equipe de doutorandos e pós-docs. Em
2010, sob os auspícios da ESF (Fundação Social Europeu) que financiou um workshop internacional em Lisboa, foi formalizada
uma rede internacional, que tem agora cerca de 60 pesquisadores de países de todo o mundo (ver www.tlnetwork.ics.ul.pt).
2
Beginning in 2008 the research group coalesced under my coordination at ICS-UL. Researchers include teams, doctoral
candidates, and post-docs. In 2010 under the auspices of ESF (European Social Foundation) which funded an international
workshop in Lisbon, an international network has been formalized which now has about 60 researchers from countries around
the world, (see www.tlnetwork.ics.ul.pt).
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1. Introduction
In the context of contemporary studies of families and transnational lives (Bryceson & Vuorela,
2002), we study the emergence of new forms of conjugality, parenthood, and caregiving
amongst individuals living in different countries. Considering the importance of gender
stratification when the domestic space is transnational rather than shared (Lubkemann, 2008),
the researchers of the group seek to understand how the construction of gender is reformulated
in the family when one of the members migrates to another country. Collecting data in this
space seeks to capture the repercussions of mobility on conjugality, on parental relationships,
and on the organization of caring, self-perception, and representations of those involved in the
domestic space – here understood in its physical, affective, and social dimensions (Parreñas,
2005; Collignon & Staszak, 2004).
This theoretical framework establishes an important comparative dimension to discuss gender
as an operational transversal category of analysis to study the organization of contemporary
society. In this area International-scale collaboration is crucial to discuss the effect of movement
of people in the different countries in its own specificities.
Gender and transnationalism result in an operational and transversal approach that enhances
the capacity to understand how societies and institutions are changing, taking into consideration
how the contemporary society works in terms of classes and access to resources and
opportunities.
When family member separates as a result of the migration of one, fluid forms of conjugality and
parenthood arise, demanding a realignment of gender roles.
Until now gender studies have focused mostly on female dynamics. We consider it necessary to
move away from the stereotype of African women and their relationship with the institution of
marriage and family, as well as from the stereotype of nuclear European family. Furthermore,
few studies have addressed masculinity and migrations between Africa and Europe. There are
even fewer studies (Arnfred, 2009) about migration between Portugal and its former colonies.
Our research group intends to fill a gap in the investigation into historic, identity, and symbolic
relationships, which since the 16th century have characterized the migrations between these
countries, focusing also on male-gender dynamics. The forms of conjugality and family
relationship that are emerging today can also be studied from the point of view of the Postcolonial Theory – seen in the continuities and ruptures in Portugal‟s colonial imagination, the
gender-role building, and the migrations between Portugal and its former colonies (Castelo,
2007; Abrahamsen, 2003). It is crucial to emphasize the importance of examining notions of
family, sexuality, and gender relations in a transnational context stressing the importance of
taking into consideration the organization and culture of migrant people, as well as the
imaginary that Europeans built on African people in this area.
All of these issues are closely linked to reconstruction of “place” or locality of the sense of
“home” in the minds of those involved. “Feeling at home” can be constructed at several levels:
domestic, neighbourhood, city, and country. Besides habitation, which is the first “home sphere”
– the most intimate and private, where one actually lives with one‟s partner and family – “feeling
at home” is something constructed through daily practices in one‟s city, through the knowledge
of and sense of belonging to the urban space, through the building of social networks, and
through one‟s feeling of identification with other groups that exist in the city (Gervais-Lambony
et al., 2003). Studies regarding the connection between “home” and migrations mostly address
the relationship of the migrant to the “home” of origin (Levitt & Waters, 2002). It becomes crucial
to investigate the process of (re)constructing the “home” in both city of origin and city of
destination of the migrant family members, as well as the repercussions on the conjugal and
parenthood relationship, on its representations and experiences.
Theories and political principles normally do not deal with gender differences in the process of
immigrant inclusion and also rarely explore the relationship between inclusion and transnational
participation. At the same time, literature on gender and migration shows that men and women
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practice their contacts with societies in different ways (Zontini, 2008). Some studies indicate that
migration produces effects on gender relations mediated by class, ethnicity, and gender
ideologies (Korac, 2009).
Earliers findings (Grassi 2003, 2007, 2009, 2010) point to the necessity to discuss how both
men and women feel commitment to their countries of origin and are engaged in transnational
relationships that constitute part of their social and cultural participation in contemporary society
(Eckes &Trautner, 2000). This is particularly true for transnational families. In our previous work
we could identify some familiar patterns on the general grounds of transnational participation
between women and men in society. The ethnographic results expected in our research group
will teach us about the future of immigrant inclusion and participation, providing analyses about
how social sharing (family) practices maintain norms and identities, or how individual
trajectories connect to group determinants (agency).
Considering the movement of people across countries from Africa, we admit that this is also
related with laws (Sassen, 2010) and its gender implications. Furthermore, the importance of
social capital for African migrants in Europe and the main characteristics of translocal projects
that African countries undertake play an important role in the interface with European
institutions, as well as being crucial in maintaining connections with the homeland. The
transversality of the transnational approach becomes clear when the discussion on
transnational family, lives, and gender impact on the individual is studied in the context of
internal migrations in European or African countries. Is it movement that makes the difference?
Or is it culture? Or well-being? Migration, gender, and transnationalism may be interpreted in a
clearly political way stressing the importance of distinguishing between political and scientific
concepts. The discussion of this approach is crucial in order to question European and African
politics in the international space.
2. TLM&G Research Group
The research group comprises researchers who have been working, in recent years, in the
Institute of Social Sciences under my coordination, on different projects involving European and
3
different African geographical contexts, mostly in the so called PALOP countries. The group
includes four PhD candidates with their research in different stages of development, two PostDoc researchers, and some short-time grant junior researchers recruited in the scope of the
projects. Combining the expertise of researchers from different scientific areas and countries
(derived from tackling the issue of transnational lives, mobility, and gender), the multidisciplinary nature of the participants in the team is a very important facet ensuring the capacity
to analyse this complex theme in a multidimensional and global approach, both theoretically and
methodologically. The importance of collecting contextualized data is stressed and identified as
a crucial methodological framework carrying epistemological consequences, as will be clarified
below. The group counts on the active participation of several participating institutions based in
Cape Verde, Angola, and Mozambique as well as in France and Italy. Weekly seminars and
constant exchanging of ideas is the way that our group tests and discusses the state of our
ongoing research. Including young researchers in the undertaking adds the dimension of
advanced teaching and learning, further enriching our meetings beyond the research goals.
Researchers involved in this group are interested in delving deeply into the consequences and
repercussions of contemporary mobility in human life and institutions. We expect that the group
will open new research directions to build a solid theoretical foundation in social sciences on
transnational lives, mobility, and gender. The transnational perspective of the research group
adresses development, migration, and family issues influenced by migration regarding
individuals and their relationships within transnational families and individual lives. It considers
the epistemological importance of analyzing the impact of mobility in the countries of origin as
well as in the host and transit countries of migrant people.
3
Portuguese speaking African Countries : Angola, Mozambique, Guiné Bissau, Cape Verde and São
Tomé e Principe
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Based on empirical evidence substantiating the persistence of migration flows between Africa
and Europe, the ongoing projects challenge the use and utility of sociological categories
connected to the nation-state, and provides support for an alternative, transnational approach
(Glick Schiller, Basch & Szanton-Blanc, 1994; Guarnizo, 1998) that is considered more
appropriate in understanding the changes imposed on conjugal/partner relationships,
parenthood, and caregiving in migrants‟ lives as well as in the family institution. The
transnational approach is interpreted in a gender perspective moving from a culturalistic
approach on gender to an approach that underlines the social circumstances of people as part
of the contemporary globalized world.
Our projects seek to highlight the discussion on efforts that have been made to overcome the
dominant perspective of migration as an expression of vulnerability. This has been done by
shifting the focus on capability and the enabling socio-political structures which play a role for
mobility/immobility in times of crisis. Empirical examples resulting from earlier work of our team
in the last years covered countries of the African and European continent (Portugal, Italy, and
France; Cape Verde, Angola, and Mozambique), as well as different modes of mobility and
migration. In order to allow the discussion of the necessity to refine the understanding of
mobility‟s consequences for individual family members living “apart together” (Levin & Trost,
1999, pp. 280-281) in all of its complexity, an appropriate multidisciplinary approach is required.
It is expected that such an approach will demand a specific and challenging methodology for the
collection of data that will allow an epistemological shift in migration, family, and development
studies.
3. Gender and mobility studies between Africa and Europe
Since the 1990‟s, approaches to transnationalism have addressed the lives of migrants with
regard to either their country of origin or their country of destination and mostly focused on
changes for the individual and/or his/her family in the medium term. Other targets of research
have been institutions (Lubkemann, 2008), paths to development (Grassi, 2003, 2009), and
redefinition of feelings of belonging to the multiple “homes”, not only from the geographic point
of view (Vivet, 2010), but also the spiritual (Levy, 2002) and cultural one (Appadurai, 2006).
The transnational lives of migrants demand constant reformulation of the sense of belonging as
a meaning of the places where persons live, work, and organize their own reproduction.
Research on changes in the family relationships has targeted gender issues mostly, stressing
the vulnerability of women in relation to men. Furthermore, emerging research on masculinity
often refers only to western-world settings.
In migration studies, it was from 1976-1985 that the first studies on migrant women as actors
who were visibly autonomous of males (Morokvasic, 1983) and on female migratory flows
(Kofman et al., 2000), even though these were focused on case studies in which there was a
majority of women. As such, these studies did not yet set out a conceptual framework on female
migration (Carlings, 2005, p. 4).
However, in accordance with Donato et al. (2006, p. 10), the first consistent analysis of gender
appeared in the literature on migration in 1992 with Sylvia Chant and Sarah Radcliffe‟s
introduction to the book “Gender and Migration”, in which the authors highlight that thus far
studies on women and migration have restricted their scope to establishing the statistical
differences between the sexes in migratory flows without ever substantively analysing
differences in terms of gender. Other specialists such as Pessar and Mahler (2003) agree that
the explosion of interest in the role of gender taking place in various academic fields with an
interest in the theme of migrations cannot be attributed, as so very often is the case, to either
the emergence of post-modern philosophical currents as from the late 1980s or even to trends
in post-colonial theories. The research findings on gender and migration of these authors were
gathered in another special edition of this journal that pointed to examples of a crossdisciplinary space in which it is possible to intermingle the differing insights of each field on this
theme. This publication reveals a powerful area of analysis capable of driving scientific and
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theoretical creativity (Donato et al., 2006, p. 14). This space does not, however, see disciplinary
boundaries simply fading away as broad variations in the practice and acceptance of
transversal gender analysis remain with regards to their respective prevailing epistemological,
theoretical, and methodological characteristics.
According to the above-mentioned authors, it was within the scope of each particular field that
social scientists have picked up gender as an intellectual strategy to overcome the
marginalization of the work of women in society as detailed in the papers collected together in
the special edition of International Migration Review (IMR), edited by Mirjana Morokvasic.
The majority of studies on migrations and development seem to reflect the conceptual point of
view that attributes to women the status of subject following male patterns of behavior (Carlings,
2005). Engendering development processes require more than a focus on women, however.
Correspondingly, when men decide to emigrate alone, they rarely depart without first gaining
the consent of the conjugal partner that they leave behind. In their memories and wishes, such
feelings remain present – to a greater or lesser extent depending on the reproductive role that
the respective culture attributes to women and men concerning the life plans for the person
behind. Portuguese speaking African countries are specific in terms of gender role organization
in the family and in society, as demonstrated in earlier works (Grassi, 2003, 2007), and this
constitutes crucial theoretical baggage in the research on transnational lives and conjugality
between Portuguese speaking African countries and Portugal (Bryceson & Vuorela, 2002). In
Portuguese- African studies, “patriarchalizing” interpretations of African societies prevail and
gender power relations normally are taken for granted. At the same time hierarchies of age
(seniority; relational) are, often mentioned as more important than hierarchies of gender.
Furthermore, when the focus is on marriage, “the woman of feminist theory is a wife”
(Oyeronke, 2001). At the same time, as this author stresses, the hierarchies of insiders /
outsiders to given lineage are also often more important than hierarchies of gender (Arnfred,
2009).
In Portuguese - African studies, gender studies have focused mostly on women (Andrade Silva,
1983; Grassi, 2003, 2006, 2007; Andall, 1999) with some interesting exceptions (Arnfred, 2005).
Studies on men in and from African countries reflect mostly power questions about black men
with a concern in politics (Marriott, 2000).
Our approach seeks to show how the constructions of masculinity are fluid and changing and
have to be renegotiated and redefined in transnational family relationships. The migratory
process is not neutral but highly “gendered”, meaning that gender constitutes a core
organizational principle for social relations. In male-gender studies, masculinity norms differ
according to the contexts as well as within each context, depending on negotiations about those
definitions between individuals or groups (Amadiume, 1987). It is crucial to look at the changes
inside the family relationships to understand how the construction process of masculinity is
renegotiated between man and woman in transnational migration and how the social
reproduction “in motion” (Koser, 2003) works in the context. Critical studies of men (Kimmel,
2005) stress that it is impossible to fully understand masculinity without considering its
connection with family change and women's change. This research places men and
masculinities within the realm of family life, examining men's practices and discourses in their
relationships with women and their changing femininities.
The importance and increase of economic migrations point to the emergence of important
changes in the organization of family relationships, lives of individuals, and gender roles. (BabyCollin et al, 2009). Recent case studies have generated an interesting body of literature on the
structural factors, both family and individual, in this process (Kofman et al., 2000). Gender
maintains its relevance to understanding an individual‟s culture in that it is tied to the position
that the woman and man take in a family structure in one or another culture deriving from the
greater or lesser extent of responsibility attributed to the man and woman for sustaining and
reproducing the household.
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To capture this complexity in motion the methodological option of this research group is to
embrace the belief that an adaptation of the methodological tools is crucial especially
considering the theoretical gap in the Portuguese academic world in this research area
(Mazzucato, 2008, Grassi, 2011). Therefore, from an analytical point of view, the position of the
actors serves to explain the normative challenge posed in restoring ethnographic techniques to
contemporary sociology. As a recent study showed, this restoration may be achieved through
references to theories posed by the Chicago School (Vianello, 2006).
Migrant experiences in destination countries also derive from differentiation revolving around
the gender function, producing differing propensities to migration as well as different results
between men and women (Boyd, 2004). Hence, stating that migratory flows diversify according
to the variable of migrant‟s gender implies the existence of inequalities stretching over the entire
migratory experience, right from departure from one‟s own country through to arrival in the host
community and the experiences encountered therein. Asymmetries in power between men and
women produce differences in the organization of migrant lives and permeate through social
institutions, the family, economy, and politics. Gender inequalities translating into disadvantages
for both women and men in the destination countries of these migratory trajectories may be
linked to exploitation and recruitment into illegal trafficking networks. Studies on migrant women
carried out thus far in Portugal (Grassi, 2003, 2007; Hellerman, 2005; Peixoto et al., 2006)
found that women bring with them the responsibility – with which they self-identify – for
maintaining bonds with the country of origin, influencing the ways in which they process their
social relationships in Portugal.
The origins of migration lie in an experience that in the majority of cases emerges out of a family
history context that approaches geographic relocation as a vital possible recourse, already tried
by others, discussed and held up as a cause for celebration. Correspondingly, there are an
increasing number of women deciding to emigrate alone but who rarely depart without first
gaining the consent of the family that they leave behind. In their memories and wishes, such
feelings remain present – to a greater or lesser extent depending on the reproductive role that
the respective culture attributes to women – in concerns with the life plans for the children left
behind. Recent case studies have generated an interesting body of literature on the structural
factors, both family and individual, in this process (Grieco & Boyd, 1998; Kofman et al., 2000;
Piper, 2005). Thus, and in accordance with some authors, the “feminisation of migration”
(Castles & Miller, 2009) is associated with the “feminisation of poverty” and suggest that
growing levels of insecurity is caused by rising exploitation by states, families and individuals of
informal subsistence level female labour that Saskia Sassen refers to as the “feminisation of
survival” (Sassen, 2001). If the latter is related to the feminisation of migration, at what cost
does this happen? And what forms does this process take in transnational families between
Africa and Europe? The dynamics resulting from cultures encountering each other change when
the site of observation alters and we engage in a comparison of different ethnicities (Pires,
2000).
Saying that the migratory process is not neutral but highly “gendered” also means that gender
constitutes a core organizational principle for social relations and gendered individual
perspectives may improve the level of understanding and clarify social processes observed in
contemporary society in movement and consequently the path of development.
4. Remarks on Methodological approach
Amongst the different disciplines we can find a variety of explanations of meanings, processes,
scales and methods around the knowledge of 'transnationalism'. Transnationalism is considered
an opportunity for development, a reconstruction of 'place' or locality, a type of consciousness, a
kind of cultural reproduction, and a place of political commitment (Vertovec, 1999).
Some authors‟, exploration of the social theory and consequent methodology that underpin
studies of transnational migration locate their approach to migration research within a larger
intellectual project that has been taken up by scholars of transnational processes in many fields,
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rethinking and reformulating the concept of society such that it is no longer automatically
equated with the boundaries of a single nation-state (Levitt & Schiller, 1995; Stoller, 1998).
Following this approach, our research programme gives a central importance to the necessity of
contextualizing analyses and methodologies in transnational mobility studies in a globalized
view (Burawoy, 2000) considering what happened in both migrants‟ origin countries and in
Europeans ones, giving to this double sited approach a special significance when the migratory
flow is between countries with different levels of development, as is the case of economic
migrations between Africa and Europe.
Concentrating on epistemological implications in researching mobility, we defend appropriate
methodological and theoretical choices able to provide transnational and intergenerational
perceptions giving a gendered and multicultural angle (Baldassar et al., 2000).
The TLM&G research group will question, from different disciplinary perspectives, how the focus
on transnational living, gender relationships, and integration experience allows for
understanding the individual‟s concrete lives (in terms of identities, culture, political affiliation,
appropriation of material resources, and development). This approach reinforces the research
at the level of both European and African developing countries.
The theoretical approach (about which we summarized only a small part of the literature), needs
the design of a specific methodological approach. At the same time, team members have
recently developed advanced expertise in quantitative methodology in coordinating and
organizing surveys in African and European countries in the context of previous and ongoing
projects (see http://www.tlnetwork.ics.ul.pt).
All of the projects designed in the scope of our research group‟s work have a strong
comparative potential, giving central importance to the data collection based on three different
paths: multiple locations; multiple types of migrants (low and high skilled); combination of
qualitative and quantitative techniques.
The specific aim is to collect consistent and contextualized transnational data based on gender,
family, and household dynamics (conjugality, parenthood, care, and education) in the
transnational spaces between Africa and Europe. As has been stressed before, data are
collected in the migrants‟ countries of origin, countries of transit, and countries of arrival, that is,
in all of the contexts that can influence the mobility of individuals and family members. This
approach allows for the reformulation of gender relations within families and households to
capture the different ways in which individuals identify and negotiate gender processes across
power relations, when family members live in different geographical contexts. Reinforcing the
contributions with scholars coming from African and European countries, our ongoing projects
planned the collection of data according to a multisided methodology. This approach can also
be explored in other contexts as the extensive literature on Asian and American transnational
families suggests.
We consider that the networks already established with national institutions and civil society
organizations in all the countries involved in the movement of people (in origin countries (Cape
Verde, Angola, Mozambique, Morocco, and Senegal), and in host or transit countries (France,
Spain, Portugal and Italy) is crucial for the epistemological implications mentioned above.
This methodology has resulted in extremely important information for the identification of core
dimensions to gender and family dynamics and their impact on both migration access conditions
and resource-access in Europe and Africa. Qualitative methodology has been crucial in
interpreting how the indicators resulting from this analysis may subsequently be applied as
points of reference for the definition of core variables for broader quantitative studies. The
relevance of ethnographic collection of contextualized data, in all the countries involved in
migration flows, has to be stressed and identified as a crucial methodological framework
carrying epistemological consequences. This methodology reveals specificities on the
construction and negotiation of individuals sharing space, resources and affectivities in the
globalized contemporary world. Stressing the lack of relevant ethnographic and contextualized
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case studies on migrants´ dynamics between European and African countries, this research
group shows interesting results from the collection of ethnographic data in different European
and African countries and different immigrant groups in highlighting new forms of practices and
contextualized dynamics of family relationships at distance.
Paying attention to migrant adaptation strategies to the new contexts and societies, through the
comparison of ethnographic information of immigrant dynamics of integration and transnational
participation as gendered experiences in the European multicultural society and in immigrants‟
home countries, improves the understanding of the organization of quantitative data in this area.
This helps to fill the lack of a deep seated indicator capable of capturing the complexity of
transnational family relationships (Bernardi 2011), a research opportunity of an uncovered area
considering gender in a life-span perspective: children/youth and parenting practices;
intergenerational issues; conjugality in the case of family members “living apart together”
(Bannon & Correia, 2006); caregiving at distances; laws; class determinants and the invisible
upper class migration; memories and emotions. The comparison of ethnographic information on
immigrant dynamics of integration and transnational participation as gendered experiences is
central in the European multicultural society and in immigrants‟ home countries and helps to
understand the multiple aspects of this complex area.
The proposed methodology aims to contribute to an epistemological shift in migration,
development, and family studies. Earlier research on transnationalism and migrations from
African regions (Grassi, 2003, 2007, 2010; Vivet, 2010; Lubkemann, 2008) points to gender
differences affecting migration in the source societies. The collection of transnational data in the
countries involved in the migratory flows considered by this research group seeks to fill the gap
in qualitative information in the countries of origin. When social changes emerge and affect
institutions and behaviour of individuals, as occurs in contemporary transnational families, we
need to be able to capture the reality with well identified and well defined new specific
indicators. This methodology allows for marking visible specificities of the construction and
negotiation of individuals sharing space, resources and affectivities in the globalized
contemporary world. Furthermore, as we emphasized before, data can be used as points of
reference for the definition of core variables for broader quantitative studies. Stressing the lack
of relevant ethnographic and contextualized case studies on migrants´ dynamics in European
and African countries, the research group reveals the necessity to collect relevant information
on differences through the collection of ethnographic data in different European countries and
immigrant groups focusing on migrant strategies to adapt to new contexts and societies.
The selection of the countries of origin studied by this research group (Portugal, Italy, Angola,
Cape Verde, Mozambique, Senegal, and Morocco) draws upon the expertise of the principal
investigator and of the other nuclear members of the research team, Post Doc researchers. The
PI and other team members have, in earlier projects, obtained interesting results on the issues
of migration, cities, multicultural settings, and gender relations in Portuguese-speaking contexts,
with specific concentration on history, identity, culture, and development (Vivet, 2010; Grassi,
2007, 2010; Ferreira, 2011, Ferreira & Grassi, 2012).
We intend to highlight the discussion on the efforts to overcome the dominant perspective of
migration as an expression of vulnerability by shifting the focus on capability and the enabling
socio-political structures which play a role in mobility/immobility in times of crisis. Empirical
examples resulting from previous work of our team in recent years come from countries of the
African and European continent as well as different modes of mobility and migration. The team‟s
future work will examine and refine the understanding of mobility‟s consequences on individual
family members living “apart together” in all its complexity (Levin & Trost, 1999).
With the theoretical and epistemological common bases mentioned the following main research
questions on transnational lives, mobility, and gender:
How does transnational mobility change the individual and shape group relationships
(family and social networks) between Africa and Europe?
How are individuals affected by migration laws in Europe and in Africa?
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How is gender power negotiated in transnational conjugality and transnational
parenthood?
How do the different sending and receiving national contexts influence the functioning
of social lives of transnational family members?
5. Closing
Firstly, the relevance of the complexity of our framework in academic research is linked not only
with migration and development studies but also, and in a significant way, with sociological
family studies. In the globalized world new family forms already exist and are characterized by
emerging dynamics for managing parenting, conjugality, caring, and gender roles at distance.
We can find new forms which differ from the sociological definitions grounded in the national
states approach, the so called “European family” or “African family”. Questioning theory and
methodologies in family studies is very important in the search for a new paradigm on the family
institution in the globalized world in movement. Taking into consideration the difference in the
development level of the countries involved in contemporary economic migratory movement
reinforces the importance of the analysis at global level to avoid ethnocentric approaches and
interpretation based on any kind of "cultural superiority" of societies. The European economic
crisis and the reverse flow migration between Angola and Portugal is presently a good example
of a reason this.
The second consideration is related with methodology and its epistemological potential
considering the framework and thematic scope of different objects of studies involved in our
projects. All these projects (see www.tlnetwork.ics.ul.pt) adopt their methodology on common
bases with the aim of capturing contextualized social, cultural, and historical information
characterizing European and African countries involved in the movement of people. Both the
countries of origin and the country of immigration influence the process of reconstruction of
relationships between the family members of transnational families. Researchers need to avoid
the temptation to look for generalizing definitions of family at macro level (European family or
African one). The influence of the context for individuals living at distance shows its importance
at the transnational and micro levels. The fact that both Africa and Europe are continents and
not countries is often insufficiently translated in development, migration, and family studies and
at the same time the national level is normally used to compare family dynamics and economic
and social welfare of the countries. In our research group we realized that if the analysis is on
transnational families, using the national level is not the most efficient choice for perceiving the
emerging dynamics of adaptation of institutions such as the family.
There is a sophisticated literature on “developing world” as well as the so called “occidental
context” related with human economic life of men and women and their gender dynamics.
However, the lives of men and women inside family relationships have remained either vaguely
drawn or invisible. Adapting methods and theory to the different contexts, balancing between
the global and the micro levels of perception and social representations is what we are
exploring in our research group.
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